When comparing Epson Home Cinema 5040UB vs Sony VPL-HW45ES, the Slant community recommends Epson Home Cinema 5040UB for most people. In the question“What are the best projectors?”Epson Home Cinema 5040UB is ranked 2nd while Sony VPL-HW45ES is ranked 4th. The most important reason people chose Epson Home Cinema 5040UB is:

When playing 4K content, this Epson has an amazingly detailed picture. 5040UB uses pixel-shifting, which approximates the image of a native 4K projector. It does not produce an actual 4K picture like a 4K projector does, but it makes the content look much sharper than 1080p.

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Pros

Pro

4K content support

When playing 4K content, this Epson has an amazingly detailed picture. 5040UB uses pixel-shifting, which approximates the image of a native 4K projector. It does not produce an actual 4K picture like a 4K projector does, but it makes the content look much sharper than 1080p.

Pro

Amazing picture

The 5040UB is bright, at around 2500 color brightness and 2500 white brightness, thanks to its 3LCD technology. It has vibrant colors and a bright picture and an outstanding contrast ratio of 1 000 000:1.Though the number is boosted by the dynamic iris (regulates light output actively), the native contrast ratio is still 4600:1, ensuring a detailed picture also during darker movie scenes.

Pro

Convenient set-up

Exceptional set-up features ensure the picture is always in line with the screen. Powered lens position with 10 presets give you different settings to choose from. Motorized focus, 2.1x zoom, and ultra wide lens shift let you set up the projector easily. The picture is easy to position on the screen.

Pro

Quiet fans in Eco-Mode

The fans on 5040UB can be just a bit noisy in performance mode. In ECO mode they produce only 20dB of noise, which is barely noticeable.

Pro

Low input lags for gaming

The input lag on this Epson is only 30.8 milliseconds, beating most of its rivals. If you want to use your projector for gaming, 5040UB is the best option.

Pro

No rainbow effects

Like all LCD projectors, the Epson 5040UB will not show you any rainbow effects.

Pro

Very low input lag for gaming

This Sony is great for gaming, since the input lag is measured at 22ms, which is pretty much as low as it gets.

Pro

Amazing picture

This Sony has a contrast ratio of 120 000:1 which produces very deep blacks. The dark colors are unusually dark even in ambient light. This also helps with the colors, which are very realistic and deep, creating a bit of a three-dimensional picture feeling. It has 1800 lumens of white brightness and the same amount of color brightness. This balance means that the colors are stunningly precise at every level of brightness.

Pro

Very quiet fans

The fans are very quiet, making 22 dB of noise. This is one of the quietest projectors overall.

Pro

Long-lasting lamp

It has a lamp-life of 6000 hours, which will last for 6-7 years if you watch a movie a day. Though all lamps lose brightness over time so you might want to replace it earlier. Replacements are available for around $300.

Pro

Good for 3D content

The VPL-HW45ES has 3D support. Image quality in both 3D and 2D are the same. Though, just as any other 3D projector, the image brightness suffers in 3D mode due to dark glasses. In addition, it has a built in RF 3D Sync transmitter, providing a wider viewing angle and flexible sitting positioning.

Pro

No rainbow artifacts

Like LCD projectors, it barely shows any rainbow artifacts thanks to its three-chip SXRD (brand name for LCoS - liquid crystal on silicon) technology.

Pro

Convenient set-up

It has a 1.6x manual zoom lens plus vertical and horizontal lens shift. This makes the projector very versatile when setting it up.

Pro

Customization options

It has 8 color presets and one User mode, which are all customizable to your taste.

Cons

Con

Average lamp-life and expensive lamp

The lamp life is 3500 hours, though it can go up to 5000 hours when used in Eco-Mode. Replacement are available for $300, which is on the expensive side.

Con

Bad motion handling in 4K - blurry picture

Creative Frame Interpolation technology (fixes motion blur) does not work with the pixel-shifting technology. In other words, the picture might still get blurry during fast motion, when watching an enhanced 4K picture.

Con

No built-in speakers

It does not have built-in speakers. Though, it’s a home cinema, so external speakers will create a better movie experience anyways.